Lesson learned, again, data is helpful

Nested archways on the beautiful Princeton University campus, made available via creative commons by Rob Shenk on Flickr

I’ve been on the Board of Directors of the Princeton Club of Michigan for the last several years. Although I live in Ann Arbor, I’ve traveled to Birmingham, Novi, Detroit, and elsewhere for meetings. In my time on the board, we have not held an event in the Ann Arbor area.

Well, the Princeton Alumni Council shared some basic demographics about the club with us. It turns out that about one-third of all Princeton University alumni in Michigan are here in Ann Arbor.

So, we planned a happy hour right before Halloween in downtown Ann Arbor. Halloween is also the best time to wear orange and black Princeton gear.

We were pleased with the attendance, and it could not have been easier for me to attend. I didn’t have to cross I-275 or take 696. I just had to dig out my orange beer jacket and find a place to park downtown.

For a membership organization, locating events near our membership helps encourage attendance. It sounds like a “duh” but because most of the leadership was from the Birmingham area…that’s where we put most of our events. We just didn’t have the data and were basing our decisions on habit and our personal preferences. Hard data helps decision-making.

Ever wondered why the theme color of this blog is orange? Now you know ;).